"It's nothing daddy!" Maggie yelled out as soon as she saw her dad hurrying towards her.
Richard could calm down now, seeing that Linda assured him. He returned to the call. "She's fine,"
"Oh thank goodness!" Alison heaved out a breath of relieve. Even Mira glanced at her. Well who wouldn't be worried about a child getting hurt!? Even if that child wasn't her own.
"Can I see you, say...tomorrow night?" Richard took a bold move. "For dinner. We can invite you over."
Alison didn't bother to rethink. "Oh I don't know. I'm a little bit busy--" but Mira's frown sent her back to make a new decision. "But that would be really lovely. Tomorrow night sounds fine."
Richard smiled, "Okay then, that's awesome. I'll send our address to you."
Alison didn't understand how that day went so fast because before she knew it, it was evening already. She had gotten a simple dress and a not so high heels to match her outfit. She looked simple, and still beautiful.
On her way to the said address, she signaled to the driver to drop her off at a*****e. Although she had given him a little "I'm sorry" gift, she still didn't want to go to his place without any gift.
She was about to reach for a bold confident tie she felt Richard might appreciate, when another hand leaned forward and snatched the tie, long nails scratching Alison.
"Ouch! Be careful there," Alison groaned. She turned to look at the person who had behaved like that. It was a petite lady with big brown eyes. She was cute, but had a soured expression on her face.
The lady grunted. "I hate sharing the mall with poor low lives like you!"
Alison blinked, taken aback by that statement. "Do you know me before?"
The lady's frown deepened. "Why do I have to know you before? Judging from your poor outfit taste, because clearly there's no way you're putting on the exact limited edition piece from Jacqueline store." Her nose scrunched in disgust.
In fact, Alison was putting on that piece. She didn't really care for designer outfits but Celine being her manager forced her to wear outfits like that because she is meant to appear attractive to her fans. Clearly, this lady didn't know who Alison was.
"Whatever, carry on with your violent shopping then. I'll just go get another tie." Alison rolled her eyes and walked away. She didn't have time for this.
Only, the lady wasn't done with her. She stepped forward, "What the hell? How are we even sure you're able to afford this tie? This section is highly exclusive!"
Alison sighed. Why was she attracting this spoilt brat today? She didn't want Mira around, so she had given her an ordinary task, pretending it was an important one.
"Why don't we allow the sales attendant to decide that?" Alison said dismissively.
"I hate the fact that poor people are allowed to be shopping here! You don't even have respect for me. Do you know who I am?" The lady went on, "I'm Britney McQueen! The queen of popstars in New York."
"Oh, good for you. The fact that you have to introduce yourself to me like this shows just how popular you are." That sarcasm made Britney flare up again.
"I'll punish you for this! I'll make sure you pay for this!" Brittney kept shouting. She rushed over to the sales attendant, "this girl is a thief! She stole something."
Alison sighed. "What a great evening I'm having." Luckily for her, she made friends with the managers of the malls, restaurants, banks she uses. She dialed his number and he picked at once.
"Someone is harassing me here." She said.
"Oh, I'll be right there now." Said the manager. Just as he'd said, he was down in just a few minutes.
Brittney had sighted him first and she roster out in laughter. The manager received a call that forced him to pick in silence, away from the crowd, so now, Alison didn't see him at all.
"Did you call for the manager like a little baby?" Britney said.
Alison paused, just observing. She didn't have any strength to argue. She was still angry she had to go to Richard's side for some stupid dinner. Why did she need a rich man to keep her protected? Well, the Cambridge were a bunch of psychos, that's why.
"Oh no..I'm so scared." Britney chuckled.
"You should be. You can't have this childish behavior and be allowed another moment in this place. I really hope you get kicked out. You look all grown up, but still act so childish."
"I should get thrown out? Ha! You really don't know who I am, do you?" Britney laughed out again.
"Hello? Hello?" The manager kept repeating as he walked out. "Who is this fool who keeps calling me!" He cut the call angrily as he reached their midst. "Yes, you called for me miss Alison?"
Alison stood proudly. "Yes I did. This young lady has been humiliating herself and not me. I can't shop in the same space as she." Alison said. Another reason she was so confident was that she didn't just make these kinds of people her friends alone. She donated heavily to their business so there can be a form of trust between her and them.
She trusted only one bank. She ate mostly from two big restaurants. She didn't like anything that upset her balance at all. In fact, these people respected her because she never caused troubles at their places before.
Alison looked carefully again and realized the man was different. "Oh, you're new here. I thought you were--"
"Flyn? No, Flyn is dead to me. I got promoted recently." The manager said.
"Dead to you?" Alison frowned.
"It doesn't matter. Let's get this over with! You young lady," he turned to Brittney who pretended she was afraid. "Get out of here right now!"
After a while, they both bursted out in laughter. "She thinks she's anything special ha!" They both said.
Alison was dazzled now.
"You look so surprised huh? This man over here is my daddy, you i***t!" Britney laughed.
Alison clearly did not see that coming. Still, it didn't make any sense that they'd act stupid like that. She brought out her phone to call her driver she would be coming out, because he took permission to quickly eat at a small restaurant around. And Alison paid for his meal. She was stalling because she was waiting for her driver.
Only for Britney to snatch the phone from her hand again, like a wild animal, and smashed it to the ground. "What do you think you're doing!"